WWE is set to resume its touring schedule on July 16 with SmackDown. Aside from WrestleMania, it'll be the first show in front of live fans since March 2020.
In May, Andrew Zarian of Mat Men Pro Wrestling reported that new sets were coming soon.
In an interview with Below The Line, WWE's Lead Production Designer Jason Robinson revealed that the company has discussed new sets once touring resumes.
”We’re heading out on the road come July 16. We’re coming out in Houston, Texas on SmackDown, then we’re headed right into our Pay Per View, Money in the Bank, which is one our favorite Pay Per Views of the year. Lots of ladders with a briefcase hanging over the ring, so we have two Money in the Bank briefcases and onto Dallas and then we’re not looking back. We’re headed forward, so we’re looking at new sets, new staging that we’re building. My next phone call is to the graphics department, talking about augmented reality and how AR is going to interface with our set, and how we’re going to make some really cool graphics for set entrances as our superstars enter," he said. “I think it was just announced this past weekend on NBC that we’re having SummerSlam in Las Vegas on August 21, and man, that is going to be huge. It’s going to be our first SummerSlam in a stadium since Wembley, years and years ago [in 1992]. The next phone call after that, we’re going to talk about a roof structure that we’re going to put in at Allegiant Stadium.”
Along with new sets, Robinson discussed the possibility of adding more AR elements to the WWE experience.
"We’ve started a little bit, especially during Thunderdome, there has been some AR [augmented reality] brought into it. We’re moving into a lot more AR, where you see the 3D elements that cameras can walk around. We were doing some testing this past week with a Steadicam version of that. The XR world — and I don’t know how much you’re familiar with that — we’ve done some XR stuff, but it’s not been in house. We’ve done some of our promos and stuff in XR environments, but from a touring point of view, I think we’re just going to stay with sets and lights and trucks and AR. We’re moving forward with AR, hopefully, multiple cameras will look at it from multiple different viewings. We’re really excited, and we’ve got a good plan. I don’t want to spill the beans. We’re definitely moving toward an AR environment for our television show," he replied.
WWE initially held shows in the Performance Center as the pandemic started before designing the ThunderDome in August 2020.
